Aion
has been out for a few weeks now so the clamor of the
launch has settled down to a dull roar. Players seem to be enjoying the
game
aside from a few issues like the queue and some initial rubber banding.
I am
one of those enjoying my time in Aion and today we’re going
to review what I
like to refer to as the biggest surprises in Aion. As most of you know
I’ve
been neck-deep in World
of Warcraft

for many years. I have also played most of the other MMOGs on the
market and
always enjoy something new. When I heard the cries of Aion being a
“WoW Clone,”
I got all excited. I hoped for a game that took some of the secret
sauce of WoW
and applied it to their own design. For the most part I’d say
that Aion has
sampled the secret sauces of multiple games and implemented a fun game
with
solid gameplay mechanics. Amongst all of the solid mechanics there are
some
neat little treats that have surprised me during my time in Aion. In no
particular order (Dancing with the Stars fans), here is a sampling of
the
pleasant surprises I’ve found in Aion:

style="">Not so Much of TeH
Suck

Unlike
many other games that hearken to the term WoW clone,
Aion does not suck. We are very early in the lifespan of the game and
end-game
is still a bit of a question, but so far the game is fun and the
programming
sound. I admit to starting the game with some trepidation, but after
the first
few weeks I can safely say that I could play this game for extended
periods.
Unlike some other games that have shipped in the last few years, the
incredibly
fleshed out gameplay keeps me logging in. See the rest of the surprises
to
better understand why.

style="">I said Animations not
Anime

Even
though this game is of Asian descent, it has been
westernized very well for my tastes. I enjoy the graphic styles and the
art
direction as well as the amazing overall graphics of the game. But that
isn’t
the real gem of the game’s appearance, no, the real
“goodness” resides in the
combat animations. 

class="MsoNormal"> style="width: 350px; height: 331px;" alt="Aion Combat"
src="/image/view/75337/preview">

I
can’t believe how fun the combat animations are in this
game. It reminds me a bit of Dynasty Warriors without being
too over-the-top.
Each skill has a different animation and critical strikes feel like
critical
strikes. My assassin spins like a dual wielding Tasmanian devil lopping
off hit
points at a blurring rate. I can’t get enough of the actual
combat sequences.

style="">Like a 7-Eleven and
Circle K Rolled into One

Like
the invention of indoor plumbing I believe we all enjoy
some convenience. Aion has taken this to heart and provided some nifty
game
mechanics. First and foremost, the quest log works. I don’t
need a mod or addon
to figure out the level of the quest, the location of the items for the
quest
or where to turn it in - that’s all included in the standard
quest log. The
“locate” feature is a great addition.

style="width: 450px; height: 378px;" alt="Aion_Locate Feature"
src="/image/view/75338">

Another
convenience included is the travel system. Between recall
points, the flight paths and teleports, Aion does not make travel a
chore. I
believe this will become essential when it’s time to level up
some alts and
want to get around the map faster.

The
last but certainly not least convenience added into the
standard user interface is a simple little button that automatically
sorts and
stacks your inventory. It’s about 10 pixels wide and yet it
does so much.

style="width: 366px; height: 371px;" alt="Aion Loot Stacker"
src="/image/view/75336">

style="">Death Matters

Aion
is a game that invokes some thought surrounding the risk
of reward versus the cost of death. At level one death does not matter.
At
level 10 it starts to sting a little. Death has three impacts, well
four
actually. The first penalty is experience (XP) debt, as in the loss of
XP.
Players lose a portion of XP when they die. The XP debt can be forgiven
by a
“Soul Healer” for a fee. That fee is proportionate
to the amount of XP being
regained. The prices should not break the bank unless players are truly
reckless
and then they deserve it. The second impact of death is a brief soul
sickness
that can last up to a minute (or longer? A minute is the longest
I’ve enjoyed).
The soul sickness slows the player to a staggering walk and makes
attempting
battle almost silly. The third impact is the rez point. If a player is
not
resurrected by another player at their corpse, the player can release
and rez
back at their last bind point (obelisk). If that now-dead player is not
careful, this can be very inconvenient (ask me how I know). Nothing
says
“insult to injury” like being a level 11 with soul
sickness and winding up way
back in the starting zone. Again, let’s not discuss how I
know this. The fourth impact is the loss of any Divine Power that has
accumulated. Divine Power is a second mana type bar that fills through
defeating enemies. Once built up it can be unleashed for savage and/or
spectacular skills. My own conservative nature comes in when I
look at how much my Divine
Power bar has moved. If that green bar is full, I'm a bit more cautious
- losing a full green bar is quite painful.

class="MsoNormal"> style="width: 533px; height: 321px;" alt="Aion Death Matters"
src="/image/view/75341/preview">

class="MsoNormal">Triple or even quadruple ouch!

Death
penalties are typically a lightning rod for player joy
and angst. Some feel that death penalties (DP, not to be confused with
Divine Power) should be quite strict and
others feel that any penalty is too strict. From an economic standpoint
death
can have no impact if you stay alive. Originally I felt as if the DP
was
similar to a “repair bill” in WoW, except that you
don’t pay the soul healer if
you don’t die. From that perspective Aion could be very cheap
for your in-game
wallet. On the other hand, if you do die you can choose not to pay it
and just
re-earn the XP. Taxing the soul instead of the gear also prevents any
types of
monkey business of running somewhere sans-gear and not losing any
money. The
other exploit usually attributed to DPs is using death as a means of
travel.
With the convenient travel system and recall spell, dying to get
somewhere
seems to carry too high of a cost in Aion and that’s a good
thing. 

Aion
is a fun game and has some excellent additions for the
MMOG market to model. How do you feel about the nifty new parts being
added to
our genre? Are you as thrilled with them as I am, or do you have others
that
you think are even better? Let’s discuss in our forums below.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Aion Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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